The big difference between the ASUS usage (which I wouldn’t consider buying) and the Apple TouchBar (one I don’t love, but can understand for non-pro users) is that the TouchBar is intended to not be an extension to the display[0]. The trackpad as a complimentary display seems pretty gimmicky - at least while the market share for the maker is so limited. Of course some level of that is up to the implementation of the various apps (but since it’s not 1st party to the OS, I expect usage issues).

I’d expect a standard user (and even myself) to be highly confused about if they can use the area as a trackpad or if they need to toggle some mode.

> Use the Touch Bar as an extension of the keyboard and trackpad, not as a display.

[0]: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...